Just as the troops walked ten kilometers in the mountains with ammunition on their backs, transporting shells and gunpowder to the artillery position outside Guangning City for transfer, the reconnaissance team sent a message: Guangning City seemed to be garrisoned by an invincible army.
The city head was completely empty and there was not a single guard. The scouts observed the city with telescopes from the nearby hills and found no sign of enemy troops gathering near the city wall.
Yang Zeng, who had already arrived at the front point, was secretly confused, thinking that this was an "empty city strategy"? Just as he was about to instruct the scouts to "come closer for reconnaissance," suddenly the closed Guangning city gate opened by itself. A large group of people beat gongs and drums. After leaving Guangning City, they walked towards the confused Suijiang detachment. The leader, a middle-aged man dressed as a Confucian scholar, saluted from a distance with tears streaming down his face and shouted something like "The people of Hecheng invite the Heavenly Soldiers of the Song Dynasty to enter the city."
"This can't be a trick of the enemy to lure us into the city to burn new wild beasts." Huang Chao muttered.
Yang Zeng sent people to bring several "elders" led by him. He had seen a lot of "local elders", but this was the first time he saw them in such a sorry state. They all had bruises on their noses and swollen faces, and their clothes were torn in several places. .
The "local elders" were searched and then brought to Yang Zeng and others. They all knelt on the ground, each reported their name, and asked the heavenly troops to enter the city quickly.
Such activeness was really suspicious. Yang Zeng ordered one company to occupy various city gates and towers, and another company to search the city. At the same time, he interrogated his "father" about the fall of the county seat.
It turns out that Guangning fell three days ago. At that time, bandits were rioting in the county, and the county director of Guangning sent the 2nd Squad to suppress the riots. The original establishment of Guangning County only had one squadron of the National Army, among which the 3rd Squadron They were arranged in Shijian again. With this arrangement, only Team 1 and the newly trained "County Militia" were left in the county. There were about 200 people in total.
Judging from the strength of Guangning's city defense, with the city gates closed, more than 200 people are enough to resist the intrusion of ordinary bandits and insurgents, not to mention a fully armed national army squad. Therefore, it is expected that there will be a large number of bandits and insurgents coming from the city. After hearing the news about Hezhou's arrival, the county director and squadron leader were not too nervous. They sent people to Shijian to contact them and asked them to pay attention to the enemy's situation. At the same time, they closed the city gate and made preparations for war.
However, three days ago, part of the militia team in the city suddenly mutinied and opened the city gate. Bandits outside the city swarmed in. The National Army squadron leader hurriedly led his team to counterattack, but was suddenly killed in the battle. Some National Army soldiers surrendered to the enemy on the spot. , the remaining people fought and retreated, and finally broke through the city gate with some militia members and escaped.
"How many people ran away?" Yang Zeng asked.
"About a hundred or ten people." The middle-aged Confucian scholar said tremblingly, "I didn't see it, I just heard people say so."
"Where are the county officials?"
"I heard... I heard..." The middle-aged Confucian scholar was a little scared. If the leader of the Kun people wanted to vent his anger on him, he would be doomed.
"What did you hear? Tell me quickly!"
"Yes, yes, it is said that some of the cadres in the city escaped with the heavenly soldiers, and the county magistrate and seven other people were trapped - that day...that day..."
"killed?"
"Yes, right at the intersection of the cross street," the middle-aged Confucian scholar shrank his neck, for fear of the wrath of thunder, "... students, students and the gentry in the city have collected the corpses, and now they are all parked in the temple..."
Yang Zeng and others inquired carefully and found out that after the bandits entered the city, they captured seven naturalized cadres headed by the county director and beheaded them all at the crossroads. They also beheaded all the captured militiamen and injured National Army soldiers.
, it is said that he wanted to "repay his merits". The next day, he killed several gentry and businessmen in the county advisory bureau, and also captured many "traitors" who were "affiliated with Kun" and beheaded them.
More than a hundred people attended.
Although the bandits claimed to be "officers and soldiers", their military discipline was extremely poor. After entering the city, in addition to asking for various "offerings", the stragglers committed crimes, burned, killed, raped, and robbed money. Almost all merchants and gentry in the city were harmed by them. Ordinary people were also tortured.
They did a lot of damage.
Last night, the bandits suddenly started looting the whole city and captured many women. They opened the city gate and escaped early this morning.
"...I am waiting for the rain just as the soldiers from heaven are drying up the fields." After the middle-aged Confucian scholar finished "crying" with tears and snot from his nose, Huang Chao and Yang Zeng were already livid. Yang Zeng said: "Let's go into the city!"
Upon entering the city, the city was in a mess. Every household had its doors open, and all the shops along the street were smashed and looted. There were still corpses lying on the street.
The people who survived the disaster gathered on both sides of the road in horror to "greet the heavenly soldiers." They were fed up with the torture of the bandits. No matter whether they were rich or poor, they did not understand this regime in the past and only passively accepted it.
The favorable impression - this comparison is too disparity!
Although they were robbed by bandits and suffered heavy losses of property, the people still put drinks and food on the roadside to show their support.
When Yang Zeng and others came to the intersection, they saw bloodstains on the sandstone slabs and a large black area. Thinking of the comrades who were killed here a few days ago, they felt extremely angry - if only they had known about the situation here earlier.
!Even if the entire army breaks their legs during a forced march, they will come here.
Huang Chao's feelings were different from his. In addition to anger, there was also an inexplicable fear in his heart. Although there was no body, the cold reality and the blood stains on the ground reminded him of the situation he had to face.
, it was a hundred times more difficult than the situation in "Fuli" in Hainan, and the cruelty was unprecedented. He took a deep breath to calm down, but for some reason, he felt that the air was filled with the smell of blood. He couldn't help but hit him twice in disgust.
.
The bodies of the slain cadres and National Army soldiers had been buried in simple coffins by local "elders". Yang Zeng sent people to check and said that they had no heads.
"Where are the heads of the martyrs?" Yang Zeng asked the middle-aged Confucian scholar.
"The heads were hanging at the gates of the county government and the four cities. They were collected last night and probably taken away."
The head was an important tool for recording merit, so it was not surprising that it was taken away. Yang Zeng had no choice but to help people find a cemetery outside the city to bury the murdered cadres and soldiers. Huang Chao heard that the people in the city had suffered severely, and asked for the establishment of a porridge shed in the local area.
, gave away rice, rice and clothes. He also went to express his condolences to the murdered members of the County Council. Some committee members’ homes were robbed, and the surviving family members were hungry and cold. He took care of all these people to be taken in and sent to Lingao for support.
From them, they learned that the man who commanded this group of troops was a scribe named Li Cungu. Although he was a scribe, he was extremely bloodthirsty. Once inside the city, killing the captives and the local "Fu Kun" local people was not counted.
Their families were slaughtered, including the young and old, and more than ten households were killed in one go. It was only the large gentry families in the county who jointly pleaded for mercy that saved the families of several members of the Consultative Bureau who were originally going to kill them all.
.
As for the things that Huang Chao and others are most concerned about, the door should be opened in the militia and part of the National Army surrendered to the enemy. The locals know very little about it. They only know that the people who opened the city gate were a few young people from the militia, all from the county.
He was an idle man. As for his subsequent life and death, it is unclear. He probably escaped with the bandits.
"The names of these people must be recorded and they will be wanted forever!" Huang Chao said angrily.
However, based on these ordinary names, no photos, and no fingerprints, and it was still an era of constant war, the possibility of catching them in the sea of people was very slim. The only thing Huang Chao could comfort himself was
, since they ran away with the bandits, they might have lost their lives in the battle.
In order to ensure the safety of Guangning, the Suijiang detachment built another village on the bank of the Suijiang River on the north side of Baoding Mountain, blocking the road to Huaiji. The Guangning detachment brought there was composed of the 1st Squadron and the original Guangning Squadron.
The remaining troops were responsible for the security of the county town and surrounding transportation nodes. At the same time, an infantry company was sent to Huaiji to establish contact with the local garrison, especially to gather back the troops and cadres who had escaped from Guangning.
The other two squadrons of the Guangning Brigade patrol the inner line between Guangning and Suijiang to ensure smooth communication with the main force; the other maintains law and order in the villages outside the city, gradually expanding the scope of investigation and search to warn of enemies from the north.
The main force of the Suijiang detachment immediately set off for Huaiji. Originally, both Huang Chao and Yang Zeng planned to conduct a large-scale "security order" in Guangning and Huaiqing to ensure the safety of traffic lines. However, from the current situation
Judging from the situation, they no longer allow them to move forward step by step and fight steadily. The troops must rush to Lianzhou as soon as possible to suppress the riot.
The Wuzhou Squadron was also retained as the National Army, but they were used as a mobile unit, responsible for maintaining public security between Guangning and Huaiji, and at the same time responsible for supporting various squadrons - the combat effectiveness of the Wuzhou Squadron has been recognized.
The content of internal security control is very simple. It is nothing more than walking back and forth on a fixed route. The main purpose is to maintain military presence and deter potential enemies. If there is a small riot, it can be extinguished in time. The supply is timely and safe;
The more dangerous thing is the outer patrol. After all, the north of Guangning is outside the control area, and the surrounding mountains are easy to be ambushed. The main task is actually to follow the guide and walk from one village to another along the road. Posters are distributed everywhere.
After printing the announcement, the villagers were summoned to give a lecture, and the village elders were called to explain the policy and assign tasks... Because there were insufficient civil affairs cadres and Quang Ninh was not included in the recent occupation plan, these tasks were all done by military officers. Staff officer Li
Song was sent to the Wuzhou Squadron to guide the work and compile documents to avoid errors during future handovers.
If the local government cooperates, it can be granted the power to organize militia groups for self-defense. The local militiamen will be included in the county militia. At the same time, they will be required to pay a "reasonable burden"; if they do not cooperate, the village will be broken up and the elders and wealthy households will be arrested as local tyrants and evil gentry who resisted the heavenly soldiers.
, sent to the Guangzhou court for trial - usually imposing a fine or exile to Kaohsiung.
Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 391